Klarinet Archive - Posting 000585.txt from 2000/07

From: "Edwin V. Lacy" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] enthused musings upon Mozart Concerto
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 14:50:33 -0400

On Tue, 18 Jul 2000, Jay Webler wrote:

> I presently have 3 students studying the Mozart. One of them is an
> 8th grader. When we went through the process of choosing a concerto to
> work on I played and number of them for each student. Among them
> were: Brahms 1st and 2nd Sonata, Weber Concertina, and the 2nd
> Concerto, Saint Saens Sonata. Each on said that they would prefer the
> Mozart.

While I tend to agree with the original post from Lelia that it is
possible to hold the major works in such awe that students would almost
never play them, on the other hand, I find this approach to be too much to
the other extreme. Here's part of the problem. Now, we have 8th grade
students who are playing the Mozart Concerto. No doubt there are students
of this age who can manage the notes from a technical standpoint.
However, when and if they go to college, their teachers are going to want
to work with them on the Mozart. In many cases, when faced with this
necessity, students feel that they are failures, because their reaction is
likely to be, "But I've already played that." Of course, we recognize
that there are various degrees of "playing" a piece.

Personally, I find it more unlikely that a student that young could manage
the Brahms Sonatas from a musical standpoint. Certainly, in general the
technical aspects are likely to be less of a problem than the Mozart.
But, I have heard many college students (and professionals) play Brahms in
ways that clearly demonstrate that they have not yet come to grips with
the musical and aesthetic requirements of that composer.

I don't feel that way about any of the Weber pieces. As far as I am
concerned, as soon as a student can manage the technical aspects of those
works, they can and should play them.

I'm afraid that in some cases, the ego of the teacher is involved. It
makes them feel important and/or successful to be able to say, "My 12 year
old student is playing the Mozart." (or Brahms, or whatever it may be)

I don't think there is any magical age after which it is acceptable to
play Mozart. It will vary considerably among students. But, as a college
teacher, I would feel derelict in my duties if I did not assure myself
that a student can perform the Mozart in a musically acceptable way.
Often, the fact that they have played such works in high school (or even
younger) just makes the whole process a lot more distasteful when they
have to repeat these pieces as college students.

(I want to acknowledge that it is oboe and bassoon students that I am
dealing with most often, but each of those instruments have their own
Mozart concertos, and the situation is the same as in the case of the
clarinet.)

Ed Lacy
el2@-----.edu

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org